Soundtrack to the film "Assa" - history, performers, interesting facts

"Hello, Banana Boy." - legendary 80s hitwritten by Yuri Chernavsky. In 1983, the song made the album famous "Banana Islands." of the band "Merry Boys". Four years later, the composition got a second life, having been heard in the film "Assa.". It became not only one of the main tracks of the film, but also the inspiration for its title... Let's talk about the influence of "Banana Boy" and its further fate below.

History and prerequisites for the establishment of the

Cult hit Yuri Chernavsky и Sergey Ryzhov. The history of composition dates back to 1982 in the walls of Chernavskiy's communal flat near the metro station "Baumanskaya". The friends chatted and discussed the idea of the song at length, and their banter resulted in the famous "Banana Boy."! There were rumours that this character was invented by Ryzhov.

The composition with an unusual and rather original title tells about the a strange boy: he inhabits the telephone receiver and communicates with the main character of the song!

Recording

The recording of this hit also has a rather curious history. At first, the lyrics were planned to be simply superimposed on the melody "Zebras." - another track from the album "Banana Islands.". But they soon changed their minds. Okay, Igor Gataullin was forced to come up with an original riff, because the author of the masterpiece personally controlled the guitarist's work. Chernavsky wanted a truly unique and worthy melody. And he got it. As for the vocals, originally the song was to be performed by Sergey Ryzhov. Then the plan was for her to be taken in. Alexander Buynov (who was then the lead singer of the Jolly Guys), but he refused to sing "this absurdity". As a result, his voice "To Banana Boy." was a gift from Chernavsky himself. From the memoirs of Igor Gataullinwho was directly involved in the recording:

"Yura brought a demo to the studio where he performed everything himself. Then we told him that there was no need to change anything - the song had already found its singer!"

The studio version of the hit is quite long - over seven minutes long! The band "The Merry Men." The studio was made up of professionals, but even they got tired and lost energy while recording this composition. The situation was saved in an unconventional but effective way: a familiar girl was invited to the studio and asked to dance to the music. But the dance was very racy, with elements of undressing: first the guest threw off her blouse, then her blouse, and then her bra. Of course, such a sight gave the musicians vigour, and the track was recorded in one breath!

Graduation and success

The song about "Banana Boy." saw the light of day in 1983 year on the album "Banana Islands.". It quickly caught the public's fancy and became a huge hit! Not a single discotheque of those years was without it.

A year later, the song became the leader of a kind of "top 10". dance hits of the Soviet Union!

Banana Boy in the film "Assa."

В 1987 The song found a second life in the year, thanks to the acclaimed film Sergei Solovyov's "Assa.". Hit "The Merry Men." not only sounded in the film, but also determined its working title. Chernavsky and Ryzhov's creation was the very first to grace the film, and the main character played by Sergei "Afrika" Bugaev even had a name like Banana!

It should be emphasised that before shooting the film, director Sergei Solovyov was not particularly interested in the Soviet rock scene. His colleague helped him to get to grips with a previously unknown topic Andrei Eshpaiwho showed Solovyov a cassette tape with a song about "Banana Banana." Vladimir Matetsky reminisced:

"Apparently Solovyov heard this song somewhere and, as a director, felt it was necessary for him..."

Interesting facts

• "The Merry Men." have long performed this song, as well as other compositions from the "Banana Islands.". Despite the success of the tracks, the band eventually abandoned them.
• Music journalist Alexander Kushnir characterised the hit as. "schizophrenic electropop.".
• The composition was glued together from several takes. The place of gluing was masterfully disguised by a telephone conversation Yuri Chernavsky and his son Dimitri.
• Igor Gataullinwho came up with the catchy riff for the song, attempted to perform with the ensemble "The Merry Men 17 years later.". Alas, the court forbade him to do so.
• The group Gataullin founded "VR13." continues to perform this hit song.